Overview

There are about 5,000 cervical spinal cord injuries per year in the United States (~1 in 60,000—assuming a population of 300 million), and about 1,000 per year in the UK (also ~1 in 60,000—assuming a population of 60 million). In 1988, it was estimated that lifetime care of a 27-year-old rendered tetraplegic was about US $1 million and that the total national costs were US $5.6 billion per year.Template:Citation needed It currently costs between $520,000 to $550,000 per year to care for a ventilator dependent tetraplegic.[1]